Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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50. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the status of the work of the implementation group overseeing the rollout of the 40 actions contained in the taskforce on mobile phone and broadband to help to address shortfalls in coverage in the amber areas of the national broadband plan in particular; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21892/17]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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I am critically aware of the frustration currently being experienced across Ireland where telecommunications networks are not always delivering the services people expect. Recognising this frustration, I specifically included in the Programme for Government a commitment to a Mobile Phone and Broadband Task force. In July 2016, I established the Task Force together with Minister Humphreys to identify immediate solutions to broadband and mobile phone coverage deficits and investigate how better services could be provided to consumers prior to the full build and roll-out of the network planned under the NBP State intervention. The report of the Task Force was published in December and is available on my Department's website.

In producing this report, the Task Force worked with Departments, local authorities, ComReg, State agencies, the telecoms industry and other key stakeholders. The report contains 40 actions that will alleviate some of the telecommunications deficits across Ireland and the implementation programme on mobile phone and broadband access identifies 19 of these actions as areas where immediate and direct action by Departments and State agencies can ensure accelerated benefits to consumers.

Implementation of the actions identified by the Taskforce will allow the business opportunities and benefits that the growth in the digital economy is bringing to be felt across the entire country. It will also assist in the creation of a digital infrastructure that can support this growth, and that can provide nationwide coverage with sufficient capacity to ensure that data can flow at the volume, speed and reliability required to meet the demands of modern life. Implementation of these actions will also assist local authorities in preparing for the roll-out of the new NBP network once contracts are in place.

In order to maintain momentum created by the Task Force, I, together with Minister Humphreys, have established an Implementation Group. This group is driving and monitoring the implementation of the actions, bringing together all key stakeholders identified in the Task Force report with responsibility for delivery. This group will be formally reporting every 90 days on progress made on all actions to both myself and Minister Humphreys.

The first meeting of the Implementation Group took place on 8 March, and was followed by a series of bilateral meetings with action holders.  These discussions have formed the basis of the first quarterly progress report, which I together with Minister Humphreys expect to publish shortly. This report will show that considerable progress has been made, particularly in relation to the implementation of actions identified for Q1 2017.

The Implementation Group is also tasked with comprehensively reviewing progress made after twelve months, and producing an annual report summarising progress across all actions. The Group is also mandated to recommend further actions that would result in an improved service for consumers.

The benefits that the implementation of the actions in the Task Force report will bring will be felt across Ireland, including in the AMBER NBP Intervention Area.